Protective heat shield

ABSTRACT

Protective heat shield having an overlapped asbestos sheeting adjustably mounted with the palm and fingers of the hand and forming an insulating air pocket between the overlapped asbestos sheeting and the hand, to protect the back of the hand from heat and molten metal in welding operations.

United States Patent Griffin Sept. 30, 1975 i 1 PROTECTIVE HEAT SHIELD[76] Inventor:

[22] Filed:

Paul D. Griffin, PO. Box 86. Alvin. Tex. 775l l Mar. 13, 1974 21 1 Appl.No: 450,662

[52] US. Cl. 2/20 [5]] Int. Cl A4ld l3/00 [58] Field of Search 2/16. 20.161 R. [58. 170:

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6/1905 Liebenstcin 2/l6l R Xl.377.l03 2.068. l 82 2.448.697

Suhr 2/16 l/l937 Jackson 2/20 9/1948 Bakke 2/l6l R PrimaryE.\'aminerRichard J. Scanlan, Jr. Attorney. Agent, or Firnt-Pravel &Wilson ABSTRACT Protective heat shield having an overlapped asbestossheeting adjustably mounted with the palm and fingers of the hand andforming an insulating air pocket between the overlapped asbestossheeting and the hand, to protect the back of the hand from heat andmolten metal in welding operations.

9 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures PROTECTIVE HEAT SHIELD BACKGROUND The fieldof this invention relates to heat shields for protecting the back of thehandin welding operations.

In welding operations, welders commonly find the intensity of heat soextreme that they frequently dip their gloved hands in water to getrelief from the intense heat or attempt to block the heat withprotective heat shields. Prior art heat shields include devices such asthose disclosed in US. Pat. Nos. 1,377,103; 2,044,105; 2,968,182;2,394,136; 2,448,697; 2,561,891; and

Numerous disadvantages are found in the prior art, such as full gloveswhich are cumbersome to put on and to take off, and heat shields thathave bulky, rigid configurations hampering the use of the fingers inwelding operations.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION hand for forming an air insulation layer protectingthe back of the hand from both heat and molten metal in weldingoperations.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an oblique view of theapparatus of the present invention as used for protecting the back ofthe hand; and,

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings, the letter Sdesignates the protective shield of the present invention. Theprotective shield S includes a flexible insulating material I andadjustable mountings M1 and M2, which are identical except for mountingpositions.

The protective shield S has a flexible insulating material I made up ofa flexible asbestos sheet 10, having a top face a, a bottom face 10b,end 16f and end 10s, and sides 10w, 10x, 10y, and 102:. The flexibleasbestos sheet 11 is capable of resisting and insulating against hightemperatures encountered in a welding operation. The asbestos sheet 10is of a flexible nature and of appropriate rectangular dimensions toadequately protect the back of the hand, being preferably ofapproximately 3 to 6 inches in width from side 10y to side 102 and of 8to inches in length from side 10w to side iflx.

Adjustable mountings M1 and M2 are adhesively bonded to the flexibleasbestos sheet 10. The adjustable mounting M1 includes a first leatherstrip 12 and a first elastic mounting band 14, and the adjustablemounting M2 includes a second leather strip 16 and a second elasticmounting band 18. The first leather strip 12 is adhesively bondedadjacent to the end 10f on the bottom face 10b extending outwardly fromthe top face 10a of the flexible asbestos sheet 10 while the secondleather strip 16 is adhesively bonded adjacent to the end 105 on the topface 10a extending outwardly from the bottom face 10b of the flexibleasbestos sheet 10. The leather strips 12, 16 are so constructed ofleather because of the heat resistant, strength, and flexible nature ofthis'material. Elastic mounting bands 14, 18 are attached'by metal brads20 to the'leather strips 12, 16 respectively. The metal brads 20 areused in lieu of other connecting methods as stitching inasmuch as thebrads 20 will remain relatively unaffected by the heat while alternativemethods, such as stitching, may fail to hold due to'the heat encounteredin welding. The elastic mou riting bands l4, l8 allow for adjusting to awide range of various hand sizes capable of using the protective shieldS of the present invention without the need forvarie'ty of sizesnecessary to accommodate each and every hand size, either right or left;

' In the use or operation of the form of the invention illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2; the preferred configuration of the protective shield S isillustrated in FIG. 1. A. hand 22 is slipped into a loop (not numbered)formed by the flexible asbestos sheet 10 and the adjustable mounting M1including the first leather strip '12 and the first elas tic mountin'gband 14 such that the top face 10a of the asbestos sheet 10 overliesthe'back portion of the hand 22 with the elastic mounting band 14running laterally across the breadth of the palm of the hand 22 and theend re er the asbestos sheet 10 facing towards the finger tips of thehand 22. The'end 10s of the asbestos sheet 10 is lifted up and over theend 10f in the direction of the finger tips of the hand 22, and thenslipping the finger tips into the loop (not numbered) formed by theflexible asbestos sheet 10 and the adjustable mounting M2 including thesecond'leather strip 16 and the second elastic mounting band 18. In thisoverlapped position an air pocket 24 is formed. Thus, a unique and novelprotective 'shield S for the hand 22 results, having dual insulatingqualities attributable to the asbestos sheet 10 and the air pocket Withrespect to the portion of the back of the hand 22 opposite the palm ofthe hand 22, an effective heat preventative shield results as aconsequence-of the multi-layer overlapped configuration consisting ofasbestos sheet 10, air pocket 24, and overlapping asbestos sheet 10adjacent the end 10f. Thus the dual insulating characteristics of boththe asbestos sheet 10 and that of the air pocket 24 are utilized to thebenefit of the back of the welders hand to protect it from both theintense'heat generated in and around a welding operation as well as anysparks and/or I molten metal resultant to a welding process.

Alternatively, the overlapped configuration may be reversed in such afashion as to provide the air pocket 24 adjacent to thefinger tipsrather than adjacent the .back portion of thehand 22 opposite the palm.In this configuration the loop (not numbered) formed by the flexibleasbestossheet 10 and the adjustable mounting M2 including the secondleather strip 16 and the second elastic mounting band 18 is slipped overthe finger tips, palm, thumb, and onto the wrist of the hand 22 suchthat the bottom face 10b of the flexible asbestos sheet 10 overlies thewrist of the hand 22 with the end Hts facing away from the finger tipsof the hand 22. The end 10f of the asbestos sheet 10 is looped beneaththe asbestos sheet 10 such that the end 10f faces away from thedirection of the finger tips of the hand 22, as does end 10s. In thisposition the top face 10a of the flexible asbestos sheet 10 overlies thefinger tips and the finger tips are then slipped into the loop (notnumbered) formed by the flexible asbestos sheet 10 and the adjustablemounting Ml including the first leather strip 12 and the first elasticmounting band 14, with the elastic mounting band 14 running laterallyacross the breath of the finger tips of the hand 22. In this alternativeconfiguration the air pocket 24 thus is adjacent the finger tips ratherthan the palm of the hand 22 providing greater heat-resistive insulatingcharacteristics for the finger tips.

A further alternative to the above alternative is to reverse themounting of the adjustable mounting M2 such that the top face 10a of theasbestos sheet 10 is adjacent the hand 22 with the ends lOf, 10s facingone another. ln this configuration, an air pocket 24 is formed havingoverlapped portions adjacent both the back portion of the palm and thefinger tips of the hand 22 forming the air pocket 24 such that itextends the entire length of the hand 22 for heat resistive protectionfor the same.

The only parts of the protective shield S of the present invention thatwill easily burn are the elastic mounting bands l4, l6 and they are in aprotected position in the palm and under the finger tips of the hand 22.Also due to the flexible nature of the asbestos sheet 10 at the loopedor overlapped position, almost complete freedom of the fingers and thumbof the hand 22 exists while being protected from the heat and moltenmetal of a welding operation. Furthermore, the protective shield S ofthe present invention can be used on either hand, thus eliminating theneed to make various configurations for either right-handed orleft-handed welders and is easily adapted to be used over and inconjunction with presently existing commercially available weldersgloves, if so desired.

The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention isillustrative and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size,shape, and materials as well as in the details of the illustratedconstruction may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim: 1. A protective shield for protecting the back of a weldershand from the heat and molten metal of a welding operation, comprising:

flexible insulating means including a flexible, heat protective sheetfor mounting with a welders hand;

mounting means for mounting said protective sheet in a positionoverlapped upon itself on the back of the hand for forming an airinsulation layer protecting the back of the hand from both heat andmolten metal and,

said protective sheet including a protective face which, in saidoverlapped position, is bent to form an insulating air space with saidair insulation layer.

2. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein said overlapping mountingmeans includes:

a first mounting band attached to a first end of said protective sheetfor mounting said first end in an overlapped position over the back ofthe hand palm; and,

a second mounting band attached to the other end of said protectivesheet for mounting said other end over the back of the fingers with saidheat protective sheet in an overlapped position.

3. The structure set forth in claim 2, wherein said overlapping mountingmeans includes:

means for flexibly mounting said protective sheet in an overlappedposition for allowing greater movement of the hand during weldingoperations.

4. The structure set forth in claim 2, including:

said protective sheet including first and second protective faces;

said first mounting band being attached for extending outwardly fromsaid first face of said protective sheet; and,

said second mounting band being attached for extending outwardly fromsaid second face of said protective sheet.

5. The structure of claim 4, further including:

flexible heat resistant mounting means for mounting said mounting bandsto said protective sheet to protect said mounting bands from heat andmolten metal, said heat resistant means being adhesively bonded to saidprotective sheet.

6. The structure of claim 5, wherein said heat resistant mounting meansincludes:

a first heat resistant mounting means and a second heat resistantmounting means being adhesively bonded to said protective sheet, saidfirst heat resistant mounting means being bonded to said second face atsaid first end of said protective sheet and said second heat resistantmounting means being bonded to said first face at said other end of saidprotective sheet.

7. The structure of claim 5, further including:

metal attaching means for securing said mounting bands to said heatresistant mounting means to prevent separation of said mounting bandsfrom said heat resistant mounting means when exposed to heat.

8. The structure of claim 5, wherein said heat resistant mounting meansincludes:

leather strips for mounting said mounting bands with said protectivesheet.

9. The structure set forth in claim 1, wherein:

said insulating air space is formed between opposing portions of saidprotective face for protecting the hand.

1. A protective shield for protecting the back of a welder''s hand fromthe heat and molten metal of a welding operation, comprising: flexibleinsulating means including a flexible, heat protective sheet formounting with a welder''s hand; mounting means for mounting saidprotective sheet in a position overlapped upon itself on the back of thehand for forming an air insulation layer protecting the back of the handfrom both heat and molten metal and, said protective sheet including aprotective face which, in said overlapped position, is bent to form aninsulating air space with said air insulation layer.
 2. The structureset forth in claim 1, wherein said overlapping mounting means includes:a first mounting band attached to a first end of said protective sheetfor mounting said first end in an overlapped position over the back ofthe hand palm; and, a second mounting band attached to the other end ofsaid protective sheet for mounting said other end over the back of thefingers with said heat protective sheet in an overlapped position. 3.The structure set forth in claim 2, wherein said overlapping mountingmeans includes: means for flexibly mounting said protective sheet in anoverlapped position for allowing greater movement of the hand duringwelding operations.
 4. The structure set forth in claim 2, including:said protective sheet including first and second protective faces; saidfirst mounting band being attached for extending outwardly from saidfirst face of said protective sheet; and, said second mounting bandbeing attached for extending outwardly from said second face of saidprotective sheet.
 5. The structure of claim 4, further including:flexible heat resistant mounting means for mounting said mounting bandsto said protective sheet to protect said mounting bands from heat andmolten metal, said heat resistant means being adhesively bonded to saidprotective sheet.
 6. The structure of claim 5, wherein said heatresistant mounting means includes: a first heat resistant mounting meansand a second heat resistant mounting means being adhesively bonded tosaid protective sheet, said first heat resistant mounting means beingbonded to said second face at said first end of said protective sheetand said second heat resistant mounting means being bonded to said firstface at said other end of said protective sheet.
 7. The structure ofclaim 5, further including: metal attaching means for securing saIdmounting bands to said heat resistant mounting means to preventseparation of said mounting bands from said heat resistant mountingmeans when exposed to heat.
 8. The structure of claim 5, wherein saidheat resistant mounting means includes: leather strips for mounting saidmounting bands with said protective sheet.
 9. The structure set forth inclaim 1, wherein: said insulating air space is formed between opposingportions of said protective face for protecting the hand.